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Hotwired

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

It feels kind of weird to be on the leading edge of something, but having my electric car feels that way. You know me: I’m about as hip as your grandma. After I wrote about Harrah’s new charging stations, I got an email from Circus Circus that they are also adding charging stations. I doubt the two installations are related, but three incidents make a pattern. Krystal Pyatt, Circus Circus publicity person, tells me they’re adding four stations, 240 volt, on the ground floor of the north parking garage.

Circus Circus has some restrictions. For example, it’s only for guests, but I’m not quite sure what their definition of guest is. According to Pyatt: “Guests will be allowed to charge for a maximum of four hours. To do so they will acquire a parking pass from the front desk. The whole process will be free as an added value to Circus Circus Reno customers.”

While I think it’s great that Circus Circus is adding green amenities, I’m not sure about the logic of the restrictions. It’s free parking in the garage, right? I think the idea behind the free parking is that people who park there are more likely to eat and gamble in the casino— the idea behind all amenities casinos offer. But electric cars are mainly commuter cars. That suggests, the drivers are not coming from Sacramento or probably even Fallon. That means, it’s people from Reno who are using them, not people who are staying in the hotel.

The majority of people using “outside” chargers are just using them for convenience when parking. I’m just trying to put myself in a gambler’s seat, but it seems to me if I’m at Circus Circus for four hours, and then I have to leave to move my car, I’d probably just leave.

At any rate, that’s one of the exciting things with disruptive innovation, you don’t know how things will work out. One of these casinos in town will figure out the best practice, and then probably everyone will emulate it. All I know is that while I’m really pleased with my decision to go electric, I’ve still got a pretty long stretch before I’d call me hip. —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com

Let’s dance

Re “The showgirl must go on” (Feature story, Dec. 5):

Vegas showgirl, burlesque, magician’s assistant, ballroom show dancer, Disney chorus dancer, cruise ship musical theater are all what I do. From Miami to Philly to Los Angeles, I’ve performed for corporate, industrial and private events. As an entertainer, you can not rest on what you already know. You need to change with the times and update your look and style to fit the current market. When there are lulls in shows for dancers, I work as a model and promotions girl and even go-go dance (when they are hiring actual dancers). While the classic showgirl has its place in Reno history, evolution is necessary to remain competitive in the entertainment market. The waves of style cycle through traditional showgirls, sexed-up Vegas, Cirque du Soliel (or their knock offs), burlesque (modern/traditional), amped up illusion and magic, comedy/improv/ impersonators, the occasional ice show and Broadway style.

Even with Disney Entertainment, amazing shows come and go for budgetary reasons, but undoubtedly when revenue returns so do long running, high quality shows. What’s hot in a casino showroom is dictated by what’s bringing in the bucks. Marketing and a reasonable budget are the key to the success of any show on the casinos’ end. The producer must be creative, experienced, easy to work with and smart. It’s only wise, for these casino properties to be frugal with their entertainment budgets until there are discerning customers requiring top rate shows. With increase in showroom attendance the demand will be great once again. So thank you to all the local entertainment companies and casinos making the effort to stay in the game and regain the quality of Reno’s entertainment history with a modern and sophisticated twist. There are professional performers of all styles in town and willing to relocate here, if and when the show market picks back up. Jennifer Oropeza Reno

It’s the party!

As I am writing this, the 4-year-olds in Congress (the Republicans) are still making threats: If you don’t do things the way we want, we are going to be bad! We are going to cause trouble, and we are going to shut things down! We are in the majority so we are in control, so you must do things our way!

I have a solution: Throw out every tea party nutcase, and every other Republican, too. Vote the straight Democratic ticket. Brad MacKenzie Reno

Buck up, big guy

Re “Bad sport” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Nov. 7):

Bruce Van Dyke needs to buck up. He needs to use his political correct mentality when he has an exposed live wire. I’m compelled to comment after his rant concerning the Bowl Championship Series replacement panel. His words make him sound like a racist womanhater. Is he evolving into a tea party guy, one of the ones he has been educating us about for the past couple of years?

John Whitaker Reno

Hide your shame

Re “The doctor won’t see you now” (Feature story, Nov. 28):

You should be ashamed of yourself for presenting such a sketchy article that involves two doctors and very little verifiable statistics. You want to scare a lot of old people. Shame, shame.

John Bogdovitz Reno Editor’s note: This is the letter that got inadvertantly cut off in our Dec. 5 issue.

Check this out

Re “Winter guide” (Feature story, Dec. 12):

There is a tie-in between the Winter Guide and the Art of the State feature about mining. The historic Longboard Ski Race Series at Johnsville, Calif., Plumas-Eureka State Park revives the colorful days when hardy pioneers braved the slopes on massive handmade skis. It is said that the first ski lift (or at least tow) was an ore bucket line rigged up outside on a hill. Downhillers used a single pole (to stop with) and greased their boards with “dope.” Check out this unique event this winter. Steve Klutter Sun Valley

We see what you’re doing there

Re “The high cost of safety” (Let Freedom Ring, Dec. 12):

Brendan Trainor’s anti-regulation column was good as far as it went, but he could have mentioned the practical aspects. The bald eagle would even be more revered, because unregulated pesticides would have killed it off decades ago. Instead of trying to prevent Cuyahoga River fires, the volatiles should burn out naturally. Flames are very purging. Most importantly, unemployment would be much lower, especially in the higher risk, higher paying jobs. No workplace protections would mean more turnover and advancement opportunities.

Fred Hinners Reno

More shame

Re “Headlines” (Editor’s note, Dec. 12):

Certainly we can all concede that the Reno News & Review is the real victim in all this tragedy. Not a demon? He not only raped two women but strangled them as well. Forty years is not a light sentence. Perhaps you should’ve used this space to be a little more contrite or sympathetic for the victims. Rape victims get raped and then immediately go on trial themselves before their victim does (if he ever does). Was strangulation rape one of the “ethical violations” for which he was made redundant? Can you technically really fire a freelancer, since they do not really work for you? I think what you’re trying to say is that he was a dorky kid who wore glasses and thought he could rap, more likely it seemed to be caught peeping in windows late at night than brutally attacking two women. And that’s a key here—the attacks must have been brutal to have them go through such humiliation of a trial and for him to get 40 years in prison. As far as I know, it’s pretty standard AP style to list the perp’s last known occupation in the headline. I don’t think “Goofy Wannabe Rapper Sentenced to ...” would’ve been as accurate. You feel some sense of guilt and are really lousy at admitting it. You did a huge disservice to the real victims by putting your head in your hands and worrying about the sanctity of your newspaper. Shame! William Ashbless Fallon

Editor’s note: Among the inaccuracies in your letter, the RN&R was not the perp’s last known occupation. Nobody at this newspaper should have been associated with Riggs’ brutal crimes, and I don’t feel any sense of guilt or contrition for something I had nothing to do with. You’re arguing both that we were his last occupation and that he couldn’t be fired because he didn’t work for us. I feel nothing but sympathy for the victims. Riggs got what he deserved.

Bank holidays

Re “The high cost of safety” (Let Freedom Ring, Dec. 12):

Deregulating the banks didn’t turn out so well (for most of us). Please check out the following article. http:// www.regblog.org/2013/04/03-lorbereconomic-growth-paper.html. John McTigue Sparks

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ThiS ModeRn WoRld by tom tomorrow

Asked at Java Jungle, 246 W. First St.

Brandon Pausa

Veterans hospital aide Probably the Christmas tree falling on me when I was about 3. It didn’t scare me off—we have a tree. I prefer real trees to fake ones.

Steven Edward Angius

Student Going sledding on the hill in front of McQueen High School when I was a kid. It was my first time I ever sledded. I fell backwards down the hill. It didn’t feel too good.

Laura Ann Kelley

Realtor

Up with holiday trees A childhood memory?

On Dec. 7, a reader comment was posted on this newspaper’s website and run as a letter to the editor: “The city of Sparks had their Christmas Parade, and that’s great. But why do both the City of Sparks and the City of Reno have an official ‘Holiday Tree’ instead of a ‘Christmas Tree’? Reno’s designation to have a Holiday Tree ‘was decided upon through our elected officials and City Attorney’s office’ (based on a return email I received from [Reno city government]). Are the cities of Sparks and Reno observing some holiday other than Christmas that they have not told us about? If so, what are they observing? If not, why avoid the Christmas Tree designation?”

There are a number of pieces of information relevant to this discussion: 1. Christianity did not invent the winter holiday. It piggybacked onto already existing ones. The same goes for the use of the tree in Christmas celebrations. Trees had been used for winter festivals long before Jesus was born. Christianity was jumping onto a bandwagon, not creating one. The notion that Christians have some special claim on holiday trees is not supported by history. 2. There was a time in the history of this continent when someone putting up a Christmas tree could have been arrested—by Christians. This was particularly true in New England in the 1600s. In Massachusetts, celebrating Christmas was a crime punishable by a fine of five shillings, a law enacted by Christians. It ill behooves some Christians now to claim primacy over winter traditions they once repudiated and criminalized. 3. According to Christmas historian Stephen Nissenbaum, Christians in this nation did not embrace Christmas trees until relatively recently—in the 1830s, after German immigrants brought the practice to the United States and Christians—specifically, Unitarians— popularized it. Unitarian novelist Catharine Sedgwick was particularly influential in spreading the custom. And Unitarians disdain the notion that the holiday traditions of other faiths should be ignored or suppressed. 4. Our reader asks what holidays could be celebrated by holiday trees. Here’s a partial list: Advent, Chalica, Bodhi/Day of Enlightenment (Dec. 8), Dongzhi, Soyal, Yalda, Shabe Yalda or Shabe Chelle, Saturnalia, Pancha Ganapati, Dies Natalis Solis Invicti/birth of the sun (Dec. 25), the Twelve Days of Christmas (beginning Dec. 12), Yule, Christmas, Malkh (Dec. 25), Modraniht/ Mothers’ Night (Dec. 25 or 26), Boxing Day (Dec. 26), Kwanzaa (Dec. 26-Jan. 1), Saint Stephen’s Day (Dec. 26), Childermas, marking the slaughter of Jewish children by Herod’s soldiers (Dec. 28), Saint Sylvester’s Day, Watch Night, New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay (Dec. 31), and Winter Solstice and Hanukkah (whose dates float at this time of year).

In the end, the real reason why official holiday trees— and the two trees our reader references are both installed by city governments on city properties—are not designated as Christmas trees is that it is not the business of government to put its imprimatur on one religion among many that celebrate festivals at this time of year. The United States Constitution and good sense both forbid it.

And it might be useful to ask why some Christians (a) so frequently demand the assistance of government in protecting the faith, and (b) are so determined not to allow other faiths’ winter holidays to be recognized in the name of holiday trees. Ω The first time we came to Incline Village in 1969. The first snow and the first Christmas with my Mom. Beautiful, like being in heaven.

Barbara Kelley

Retiree When they gave me my first money to buy my own Christmas presents. My aunt [gave it to me]. Twenty-five cents. It was in the ’30s, and I bought five or six Christmas presents with that quarter.

Valerie Morasse

Barista I remember always going down to my grandma’s house in Carson City, and we would bake Christmas cookies all day long. She’d always let me lick the spoon and the mixing bowls, probably my favorite time.